Rick Artis first moved to Kensington in the mid-60’s and is a proud alumnus of local public schools (Kensington Hilltop, Portola, John F. Kennedy High, UC Berkeley).  After receiving his PhD in Organic Chemistry at Yale University, he returned to the Bay Area and began a career in the pharmaceutical industry.  He and his family moved back to Kensington in 1996.  He is a co-inventor of two marketed drugs for treatment of cancer and currently is Chief Scientific Officer of a publicly traded biotechnology company, where he works on new medicines for autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases.  He served as a member of the Kensington Ad-Hoc Committee on Governance and Operations Structure, where he produced a detailed analysis of the financial history of both Kensington special districts and chaired the subcommittee that produced the first study of Consolidation for the community.  He has served on the Board of Directors of the Kensington Property Owner’s Association.  He was appointed to fill a vacant seat on the Kensington Fire Protection District board in March of 2024.